The Price Must Always Be Paid (1)
Once the formal master-disciple rites were complete, true training began in earnest.
The Moon Spirit Divine Art was divided into twelve stages in all.
They mirrored the twelve-month cycle of the moon’s waxing and waning. At present, Hyun Si-woon stood at the third stage—the realm of Heart Lake.
And Ha-wol is at the tenth: Moon Shadow.
It was astonishing, really.
Even Ha-wol, who had once ranked fifteenth among Rankers, had never reached the final stage.
— Hmph. The Moon Shadow realm alone already surpasses the Transformation stage. The final stage of Moon Spirit is a mythical realm that even the founding lord of the Moon Spirit Sect established only in theory. It is not a domain ordinary people—or even geniuses—can dare to approach.
“…….”
Hyun Si-woon merely nodded in silence.
It was a height he could neither see nor feel yet. There was no point in prying further.
“Hoo… heup!”
Yoon Seo-a was carefully regulating her breath exactly as Hyun Si-woon had instructed.
This was the work of entering the first stage of Moon Spirit—Sensing Qi.
“When you inhale, imagine the cold night air flowing into your body and gently soothing every place that hurts. When you exhale, picture every impurity inside you draining completely away.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Don’t answer. Focus only on the breath.”
“……!”
Time passed that way.
One hour.
Then another.
Hyun Si-woon sat beside her and circulated his own energy as well. Ha-wol was watching everything anyway; it made no difference.
And yet—
A subtle change stirred exactly two hours later.
The air around Yoon Seo-a wavered, ever so faintly.
From the region of the child’s dantian, a pale silver-white energy rose like heat haze—faint, yet unmistakably clear.
— Huh?
Ha-wol’s eyes went wide.
Then her mouth fell open.
— Y-you’re kidding me… already?
Hyun Si-woon rose from his seat and studied Yoon Seo-a.
“What just happened?”
“I… I felt it. In my lower abdomen… a cold, clear energy flowing through.”
“…….”
Hyun Si-woon felt a considerable sense of deprivation.
Two hours to enter Sensing Qi?
How long did it take me?
Roughly two weeks—and that was training day and night.
— She’s insane!
Ha-wol cried out in pure excitement.
— The Heavenly Yin Body truly was legendary. Look at that energy. She didn’t merely sense qi—she’s already drawing it out!
She’s right.
Ha-wol’s assessment was accurate.
Normally, the moment one first stepped into Sensing Qi, simply perceiving one’s own energy was overwhelming enough. At best, you clung to that faint trickle and pinned it inside the dantian.
Yoon Seo-a was different.
The energy rising from the child’s dantian already shone with a distinct light.
— This is the power of the Heavenly Yin Body. From the very start she carries pure yin energy—Heavenly Yin itself—utterly different in quality from the turbid energy the rest of us can obtain!
If ordinary people received raw ore and had to refine it, Yoon Seo-a was handed a perfect jewel with not a single impurity. There was nothing left to process from the outset.
— Hoh hoh hoh! Hoh hoh hoh hoh!
Ha-wol’s voice brimmed with unrestrained joy.
“Master, am I doing well?”
“Uh… yes. You’re doing well.”
In truth it went far beyond “well.”
It was simply monstrous.
The feeling was strange.
How should I even put this?
Was this the sensation ordinary people felt when they beheld a genius heaven itself had chosen?
Yet he shook his head a moment later.
Jealousy?
No.
Honestly, it was closer to pure awe.
With this child, our team gains an enormous fighting force.
And later, once she climbed the higher floors or became a Ranker, she would become a card he could play.
“For a first attempt that was solid, but sensing qi is only the beginning. What you’ve felt is merely realizing a vast river exists. Moving that river at will, governing it, even changing its course—there’s still a long road ahead.”
Hyun Si-woon calculated instinctively.
In the face of talent this overwhelming, clumsy praise could become poison.
The moment satisfaction set in, growth stopped.
Just as he had always driven himself to the absolute limit, he had to ensure this child never placed a ceiling on herself either.
— Exactly. You’re handling it well. Never give her a sense of satisfaction. Never let her become drunk on this achievement. That child’s body holds potential far beyond anything we can imagine. To draw every last drop of it out, you must keep pressing her.
“…….”
Yoon Seo-a stared blankly at Hyun Si-woon for a moment, as though she had lost her words.
She was not disappointed.
Instead, within that strictness she read an even greater faith in her.
Master… believes I can do even better.
She clenched her small fist.
“Yes, Master! I’ll keep that firmly in mind!”
Around noon, when the sun hung high,
Kuuung!
Pungjo landed in the central clearing of Eden Camp.
“Hup!”
Baek Yeon-ho hopped down with practiced ease, and three more figures appeared behind him.
Members of the Midas’s Hand guild—Park Du-shik, Seo Jun-yeong, and Hong Yu-ra.
“Whoa…….”
“This is the camp?”
“……My god. A place like this actually exists…….”
The three of them gaped in perfect unison.
They had heard it was a survivor camp, but nothing had prepared them for this.
Eden Camp had developed far beyond what it once was.
Neatly sectioned farmland stretched out, green leafy vegetables growing vigorously in every furrow. On one side, plastic greenhouses stood ready to cultivate crops regardless of season.
Beyond the fields lay a sizable livestock pen.
Chickens, cows, and pigs ambled freely inside the fences; several dairy cows chewed their cud. In this hellish world, the simple fact that fresh eggs and milk could be supplied was itself a shock.
And that was not all.
A savory aroma of cooking rice rose from the mess-hall chimney, and residents moved busily about according to their assigned roles.
“It’s beautiful…….”
Hong Yu-ra murmured softly.
This is—
Park Du-shik, however, was stunned by something else entirely.
This isn’t camp-level. This is practically a kingdom.
A perfect self-sufficient ecosystem!
And behind it, an overwhelming leader known as the Wandering Merchant!
A shiver ran through him.
The board he intended to play on was far larger and sturdier than he had imagined.
“Everyone, this way. Now that you’re at Eden, you should meet the Wandering Merchant first.”
Baek Yeon-ho smiled as he led them along.
When they arrived at the former research director’s office, Hyun Si-woon was already seated, having been notified in advance.
He skipped every formality and went straight to the point.
New contract terms.
Exclusive distribution rights for every item, profit sharing, and a secure place to live.
In return, just as with the Owl, he demanded absolute loyalty.
Park Du-shik did not hesitate for a single second.
“Thank you for placing your trust in us, Boss!”
He used the title “Boss” and bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.
“Midas’s Hand will take full responsibility for the Wandering Merchant’s finances!”
Seo Jun-yeong and Hong Yu-ra followed suit with their own bows.
Having seen Eden Camp, they no longer wanted to leave.
They understood on instinct.
This place is Noah’s Ark.
Fail to board this ship, and you would simply drift across the endless ocean until you died.
The contract was sealed in an instant.
Hyun Si-woon smiled with satisfaction and began pulling items from his inventory—the vast stores of TC and equipment confiscated from the traitors.
Many were common grade, yet rares appeared here and there as well.
“Sell these. Use the TC to sweep up every crafting material currently circulating in the market. Type doesn’t matter—just get them as cheaply as possible.”
“……!”
“And one more thing.”
He set something on the table.
Twenty spatial-expansion backpacks.
“Keep ten as a gift. Dispose of the remaining ten however you see fit. Auction them, sell them at a premium to a specific guild… just extract the highest possible value.”
“Whoa…….”
“T-twenty of them?”
Park Du-shik felt a thrill race through him at the sheer scale of Hyun Si-woon’s hand.
The true stage on which he could finally unleash the abilities he had honed in the old game world had opened at last.
His eyes blazed.
“Leave it to me, Boss!”
Park Du-shik declared with a resolute expression.
After Midas’s Hand settled in, Hyun Si-woon’s teammates also threw themselves fully into training.
— It’s about time they advanced to the next stage as well.
Ha-wol nodded as she watched.
Their bodies, tempered by consistent training, were ready to accept a new realm.
— Just listen carefully to each instruction and recite it exactly as I say.
Okay.
— Let’s start with that bear-like one first.
Ha-wol pointed out Hwang Dae-un.
“Dae-un.”
“Yes, Hyeong-nim!”
“Assume your stance.”
“Ohhh, yes sir!”
Hwang Dae-un dropped into a horse stance.
“You’ve solidified your lower body with the Thick Earth Art and stepped forward with Iron Mountain Steps. Now it’s time to learn a new form of the Mountain-Opening Staff Method. Everything you’ve swung so far has been nothing more than the first form, Stone Shatter. From here on you’ll learn the second form—Mountain Collapse.”
“Mountain… Shin?”
“Not Mountain Shin—Mountain Collapse, you idiot. Are you even concentrating?”
“S-sorry.”
“The core of Mountain Collapse is the layering of force. You absorb the rebound from the first strike and pour it straight into the second. Like a landslide that begins with a small stone and ends by sweeping away a giant boulder—each successive swing multiplies the power. It’s a continuous-strike technique. Pick up your blunt weapon.”
Hwang Dae-un’s eyes burned with focus.
The form proceeded, and whenever Ha-wol pointed something out, Hyun Si-woon corrected the posture with a light tap.
“Relax your strength. You’re not swinging with your own power. You’re swinging with the weapon’s weight.”
“Yes, sir!”
It continued in that fashion.
“Yeon-ho, you’re moving forward with Diamond Fist as well. You’ll start with the first form, Diamond Hammer. You receive the opponent’s attack on your shield, store the impact in your dantian, then return it through your fist. Pure force redirection.”
“Cha-yul, you’re up for the second form of Spirit Snake Spear—Flood Dragon Surfacing, right?”
“Si-a, you’ve finished the foundations of Eagle Claw Divine Archery, so we move to the advanced forms. The first is Soul Chase—a qi-breaking technique that loads energy into the arrow as you loose it.”
“Do-hee, keep polishing Pure Heart Origin Restoration. I’ll teach you the formula for the Still-Heart Mantra. If you recite it properly, the effect of a Saintess’s prayer will rise dramatically.”
Everyone listened intently to Hyun Si-woon’s words.
A fierce desire for the next realm had ignited in each of them.
That night,
everyone returned to their quarters utterly spent.
It was the kind of exhausted evening where a warm shower and a soft bed would drop you into sleep the moment your body hit the mattress.
Yet—
After finishing her shower, Kang Si-a changed not into pajamas but into a black combat suit.
She slung the Moonlight Bow across her back and firmly secured the quiver at her waist.
Fully prepared, she slipped out of the lodging without a sound and headed for Hyun Si-woon’s room.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
When Kang Si-a carefully opened the door and stepped inside, Hyun Si-woon looked at her with puzzled eyes.
“I need to go somewhere for a little while. Could I borrow Pungjo?”
“Go somewhere? Where?”
“……I’ll explain when I get back.”
She avoided giving details.
Instead she simply met Hyun Si-woon’s gaze in silence.
He understood what those eyes were asking.
A wordless plea: Trust me.
“Hmm.”
He could guess the reason easily enough.
It had to be the Medalist Guild.
They had already tried to throw a wrench into things once before.
— You’re just going to let it slide?
He himself had moved past it by stripping them of partner status, but she had not.
What should he do?
He hesitated.
Should I send her, or not?
Her safety, honestly, did not worry him.
While teaching her Eagle Claw Divine Archery this time, he had felt it clearly—
In pure physical terms, even he would be hard-pressed against the current Kang Si-a.
“Want me to come with you?”
A question that showed he had fully grasped her intent.
Kang Si-a’s eyes wavered for an instant, then she shook her head firmly.
“No, it’s fine. Oppa already decided to forgive them. This is my problem.”
A stubborn edge colored her voice.
“Hoo.”
Hyun Si-woon let out a sigh.
What truly concerned him was her humanity.
She was still young.
At that age it was all too easy for revenge to blind you and push you past the line.
“Don’t kill them.”
At his serious tone, Kang Si-a shot him a sidelong glance.
“What do you take me for?”
Now she sounded petulant.
“I just plan to have a little talk.”
A talk, was it……
Hyun Si-woon gave a short laugh.
As if that would be all it was.
“You’ll be back before dawn training tomorrow?”
“Plenty of time.”
“All right. Borrow him.”